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August 04, 2013

A Chance for the New Iranian President to Prove He’s a Reformer

Western diplomats at the Rouhani inauguration
Sunday should challenge him to release political prisoners.

The
inauguration of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran on Sunday has stirred
considerable hope among some Western observers for the start of a new era of
liberalization in the Islamic Republic. Mr. Rouhani may prove to be the
reformer his supporters claim, but the luxury of such optimism isn't available
to the hundreds of dissidents who have run afoul of the Islamic Republic and
are trapped in its prisons.

Since Mr. Rouhani’s election in mid-June, the
regime’s executions of prisoners—a good barometer of a government’s
inclinations—have increased in frequency. Between June 20 and July 20, at least
97 Iranian prisoners were executed. That’s the regime’s official count; as a
rule, the actual numbers are higher. By contrast, in July 2012 there were 29
confirmed executions.

Sunday’s inauguration will give Western
diplomats an opportunity to challenge Mr. Rouhani to show the world evidence of
a fresh start in Tehran. According to the regime, representatives from 40
countries will attend. Though no European countries are sending top officials,
European diplomats already in Iran will attend, according to the British
Foreign Office. These diplomats should publicly deplore the executions and
shine a light on the political prisoners languishing in Iranian jails.

When bringing pressure on a draconian regime,
it helps to point to a particular political prisoner, giving a face to
countless victims who remain unknown. The Western diplomats couldn’t do better
than to focus on Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been
incarcerated in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison since 2006.

The 55-year-old religious leader is routinely
tortured, according to Amnesty International. The group reports that he has
been denied medication for his Parkinson’s, diabetes, high blood pressure and
heart problems. According to friends and family members, he is very weak and
they fear for his survival.

Mr. Boroujerdi suffers now because he publicly
challenged the regime’s theological doctrine—promulgated by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
in the early days of the Islamic Revolution of 1979—that only an Islamic jurist

can rule the country. Mr. Boroujerdi instead
supports the traditional Shiite view that religious leaders should stay out of
politics and preach their messages to the faithful in mosques. In his words,
protesting in 2006, “the regime is adamant that either people adhere to
political Islam or be jailed, exiled or killed. Its behavior is no different
from that of Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar.”

Mr. Boroujerdi has also preached tolerance of
all religious beliefs, including atheism, on the grounds that faith must be
freely chosen. Perhaps nothing bothers the Iranian regime more than religious
pluralism: In recent years, the country has been swept by the arrests and
executions of members of minority groups like the Bahais and Sufi dervishes.

In 2010, a message from Mr. Boroujerdi was
smuggled out of Evin prison, delivering a message to the world’s Jews in
celebration of Hanukkah. “Any religious belief that brings us closer to (God)
is the truth,” he wrote. “This force will lead humanity towards enlightenment.
On this great day, we celebrate the unity among the believers of God’s light.”

Some may wonder why Mr. Boroujerdi has not been
executed, in contrast to so many others who challenged the regime. One possible
reason is that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his henchmen fear the potential
rage of the Iranian people.

Mr. Boroujerdi is much admired by his
countrymen: When security forces came for him seven years ago, thousands of
people gathered on the roads to prevent the arrest. The protest failed because
the regime was determined to shut down a critic whose public meetings had grown
so popular that they were moved to a soccer stadium seating thousands. A regime
already worried about a restive populace seems unlikely to execute an
influential leader whose death could set off widespread demonstrations. Better
to let him die in prison from medical problems.

In the meantime, the ruling ayatollahs want to
keep Mr. Boroujerdi sealed off from the outside world. The Iranian intelligence
ministry has assigned a special guard to watch Mr. Boroujerdi’s cell around the
clock, according to his associates. Despite this arrangement, he manages to
smuggle notes to his friends and family. The writers of this article have both
received short letters from him in recent weeks. In one case, he apologized for
a delay in his communication, explaining that an earlier message had been
seized.

The time has come for Western leaders to appeal
for Mr. Boroujerdi’s release and for the release of others like him. Canada’s
ambassador for religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, has already done so this past
week: “The continued detention of . . . Ayatollah Boroujerdi demonstrates the
Khamenei regime’s wanton disregard for religious freedom and human rights.”

Some would caution that such appeals enrage the
regime, making things worse for prisoners. It should be remembered that Soviet
dissidents were enormously encouraged when President Reagan denounced the
inhumane practices of the “evil empire.” It is easier for repressive regimes to
kill anonymous people than human beings with names and faces, about whom the
civilized world shows its concern. The inauguration of President Rouhani on
Aug. 4 will present the civilized world with just such an opportunity.